Insurable Interest Canadian Insurance Blog

New obstacles come on the heels of solid results for P&C insurers last year Jersey City, NJ (May 7, 2020) – The private U.S. property/casualty insurance industry had solid results in 2019, with increases in net income, underwriting gains, and policyholders’ surplus, but faces considerable challenges in 2020 as the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic unfold, according to Verisk, a leading data analytics provider, and the American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA). Net income after taxes rose to $61.4 billion in 2019 from $59.6 billion in 2018. Net underwriting gains increased to $3.7 billion, after $0.2 billion of net underwriting losses a year earlier, due in part to high catastrophe losses in 2018. The industry’s surplus reached a record high $847.8 billion by the end of the 2019, as the stock market recovered from a significant downturn a year earlier. Moving forward, several factors related to COVID-19 could affect industry results in 2020, including the following: Millions of people are staying at home and driving less, leading many insurers to react by returning a portion of personal auto premiums during the pandemic. Many businesses had to close or significantly curtail their activities. High unemployment rates and declines in consumption and...

Gartner identifies nine trends for HR leaders, including Expanded Data Collection, Emergence of New Top-Tier Employers and Increase in Organizational Complexity Stamford, CT (May 6, 2020) – Organizations can differentiate themselves from competitors during the COVID-19 pandemic by leveraging nine ongoing trends, according to Gartner, Inc. These trends are broken into three categories: accelerating trends, new impacts that were not previously part of the future of work discussion, and pendulum swings – temporary shorter-term reactions. “It is critical for business leaders to understand the large scale shifts that are changing how people work and how business gets done,” said Brian Kropp, chief of research for the Gartner HR practice. “Then, they must apply this knowledge to their specific organization so they can alter their strategy accordingly.” Gartner recommends HR leaders evaluate the following trends to determine if and how they apply to their business. Accelerating Trends • Increase in remote work. Gartner analysis shows that 48% of employees will likely work remotely at least part of the time after the COVID-19 pandemic, compared to 30% pre-pandemic. In fact, 74% of CFOs intend to increase remote work at their organization after the outbreak. To succeed in a world of increased remote...

How will today’s uncertain times affect consumer behavior? New York, NY (May 6, 2020) – Key takeaways from Deloitte’s first consumer poll during the global pandemic lockdown include: Health concerns generally exceed financial concerns in the U.S., with more than 50% of respondents concerned about health and nearly one-quarter of respondents worried about finances. Only one-third of U.S. consumers (34%) feel safe going to the store right now. Millennials lead the online shopping charge in the U.S. predominantly with in-store categories such as groceries, everyday household goods and alcohol. Consumers in India and Japan show a bigger anxiety spike than the U.S. Why this matters As a global health crisis potentially morphs into an economic one, Deloitte is conducting a series of biweekly surveys around the globe to better understand the interplay between personal safety and economic vulnerability as a driver of purchase decisions and consumer behavior. The first such survey titled “Deloitte Global State of the Consumer Tracker,” conducted in 13 countries during the week of April 13, 2020, queried 1,000 consumers in each country. The responses provide insight into how consumers in different countries intend to weather this dual crisis. Health and financial concerns remain relatively high worldwide Global...

Acquisition of Callisto to help Accenture’s clients make manufacturing more efficient and flexible New York, NY (Mar. 7, 2020) – Accenture has acquired Callisto Integration, a Canada-based provider of consulting and technology services. The company provides digital manufacturing services to large companies in the food and beverage, chemicals, utilities and other industries. The acquisition expands Accenture’s capabilities to help clients in North America ensure the timely production of orders, increase their yield and enhance the quality of their products. Among Callisto’s key services are the design and implementation of manufacturing execution systems, industrial internet of things (IoT) systems and shop-floor control systems. These systems ensure the materials, workers and equipment for each production order are ready when needed. They also provide real-time data on the production process. As a result, companies can better detect and address quality issues and more accurately predict machine failure. The 160 Callisto employees join Accenture’s Industry X.0 practice. This part of Accenture uses digital technologies — such as the IoT, data analytics and artificial intelligence — to improve how companies design, engineer and manufacture products and services and operate industrial facilities. Callisto is headquartered in Oakville, Ontario. It also has two offices in the United...

London, UK (May 11, 2020) – Cyber risk analytics specialist CyberCube has launched “Broking Manager” – a new software-as-a-service application designed specifically for insurance brokers. “Broking Manager” facilitates quick and efficient client insight for both generalist and cyber specialist brokers. The product is built to help brokers quantify, understand, and explain to their clients, the sources and financial impact of cyber risk exposure. This development recognizes that insurance advisors need to be able to educate prospects and clients while demonstrating an understanding of their needs and exposures. Brokers are expected to align clients’ goals, budgets, and exposure to the appropriate limits and best-fit carrier policies. With cyber risk, this means understanding the types of scenarios that may cause financial loss and the costs that would drive losses. Knowing where a client can increase or cut back on premium dollars while still hitting their coverage goals is imperative to helping them optimize their budget. Broking Manager empowers brokers to instantly produce a cyber financial loss report on millions of companies, while providing rich information to help brokers articulate their clients’ cyber exposure. It does so by leveraging advanced models that draw on data from a large number of sources including behind...

MetLife is offering paid voluntary leave to its licensed healthcare workers who join the fight against COVID-19, the company announced today. MetLife medical professionals who volunteer will be deployed in two-week rotations to hospitals and other healthcare facilities in locations across the country. MetLife employs dozens of full-time trained nurses, behavioral health professionals, physicians and other medical workers to help patients on disability leave recover and safely return to work. Under this new program, which was created by MetLife’s Return to Health Organization in response to the strong interest voiced from MetLife employees wishing to help, these specialists now have the flexibility to volunteer to support pandemic relief efforts without impacting their jobs. “MetLife has a 152-year history of always being there when our customers and communities need us the most,” said Bill Pappas, executive vice president and head of Global Technology and Operations, MetLife. “The entire MetLife family is incredibly proud that our people want to use their training to make a positive impact. Whether it’s augmenting a local health center’s staff or filling in for a front-line medical worker in desperate need of a break, our goal is to help in any capacity needed.” Advertisement MetLife has a...

Kelsey Rolfe | May 11, 2020 As provincial governments start to lay out their plans for slowly reopening the economy, employers have a unique return-to-work scenario to handle. Appropriate sick leave and accommodation policies will be key pieces of the new normal, said Alex Boucher, principal and total health management leader at Mercer Canada, during a webinar on Friday. A second and possibly further waves of the pandemic are expected, so employers will need to have plans in place for situations where employees feel ill or have virus-like symptoms, he said. These include addressing questions around how long employees should isolate before it’s safe to return to work, whether asymptomatic employees who’ve come into contact with a coronavirus case should isolate and how long employees are paid or unpaid on virus-related sick leaves. Employers may also be required to consider how to handle an employee who lives with a frontline health-care worker and has the potential to be repeatedly exposed to the virus. Read: A refresher on Canada’s leave policies as coronavirus escalates Older employees and those with chronic conditions may be particularly concerned about returning to work, noted Boucher, as well as staffers caring for children or an elderly or at-risk family member. “If you don’t have an accommodation practice with clear steps...

Kelsey Rolfe | May 11, 2020 The union representing 400 Dominion Diamond Mines employees is attempting to guarantee that the company honours its multi-million dollar pension shortfall as it goes through a court-ordered creditor protection process. If the shortfall isn’t prioritized, the Union of Northern Workers said it’s concerned that active members and pensioners would all face reduced pensions. “How much that would affect those pensioners and the current participants is not known, and would have to go through the court process to wind up and assign those assets,” says union president Todd Parsons. Read: Will new changes to federal insolvency laws protect retirees? He said the union is attending all of Dominion Diamond’s court hearings to advocate for its members. “The union will take the position [that] the pension earnings should be a priority before creditors are considered, in the event that this company is unable to succeed.” According to its most recent valuation, Dominion Diamond’s defined benefit pension plan had $90.3 million in assets and a $99.5-million windup liability as of Jan. 1, 2019, leaving the company with a roughly $9-million shortfall. However, according to a sworn affidavit by Kristal Kaye, Dominion Diamond’s chief financial officer, the deficit had risen to $20.3 million as of...

Quebec-based La Capitale Insurance and Financial Services has announced that it is offering free COVID-19 hospitalization coverage for critical illness insurance policyholders and their loved ones. “La Capitale is listening to what its members need, and we believe that this type of coverage can help reduce the financial stress when a family member is hospitalized,” said Jean St-Gelais, Chairman of the Board and CEO of the firm. The free coverage is being offered to clients with individual critical illness insurance, not those who acquired CI insurance through their employer. Under the complementary coverage, the insured, their spouse, and children under age 18 who reside at the same address as the insured are entitled to a lump-sum amount of $2,000 for hospitalization expenses related to the novel coronavirus. The benefit is being automatically added to individual CI insurance contracts currently in effect. La Capitale clients who have individual CI coverage do not need to contact the company to avail of the free coverage, which will be available until July 31, 2020. La Capitale’s complimentary coverage for individual CI policyholders comes as other carriers provide support through reduced premiums on certain group benefits and provide access to free mental-health services. “Our mission...

Staff | May 8, 2020 The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and the Public Sector Pension Investment Board are participating in a $390-million series-D round of financing for Grail Inc., a U.S. health-care company focused on cancer testing. The financing is aimed at boosting the company’s balance sheet to support its continued development, as well as the commercialization of its cancer testing method. Read: CPPIB invests in cancer drug royalties, food manufacturing “GRAIL is making significant progress with our blood-based, multi-cancer early detection test,” said Hans Bishop, chief executive officer at Grail, in a press release. “Nearly 80 per cent of cancer deaths result from cancers for which there is no screening test today and Grail’s mission is to change that through the early detection and localization of more than 50 cancers.” Read the full article at BenefitsCanada.com